This is a blog about traveling on a budget but still experiencing the cities and towns we visit.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Isla Bastimentos, Panama

For us, the
Panama trip continued to be an adventure. After driving cross country
to get to Almirante, we parked the car, and hopped on not one, but
two water taxis (also called launchas) to get to Isla Bastimentos. Check out this link for transportation info. While on the island, we stayed at Tio Tom's guesthouse. It was right
next to the public dock which was helpful and not a drawback. The
guesthouse is sparse but a good deal at about $25 per night.
The owners, Tom and Ina, are a friendly German couple. During our
stay, they were very welcoming though opinionated about life on and
off the island.

Two
restaurants on the island that I recommend are Roots and Kesha. Both
have great, affordable food around $6 per meal. Also, drinks are
pretty affordable most everywhere on the island, $1-2 per beer and
$3-4 for the ever-popular cuba libre.

We were only on Isla Bastimentos a few days so we had limited time to see the island. We thought
about taking a day tour (average $20 per person) to snorkle, fish,
etc. but decided against it and chose to walk to Wizard Beach instead. Be
wary of our choice. We were told that there was a trail from
Bastimentos town to Wizard Beach and that it was “kind of muddy.”
This was the understatement of the trip. We walked uphill to get out
of town (it looks like you are walking through someone's backyard at
times) and finally found the trail. But the trail was not a little
muddy, it was a lot muddy. There were points where we were walking in mud a foot deep.
This would not have been a problem had we not worn flip flops and
been concerned about what lies underneath the mud. Once we got use to the
idea of being muddy, sweaty, and possibly lost, it went a bit
smoother. Once we passed through the land of mud and abandoned flip
flops, we made it to Wizard Beach which was quite deserted (the only
way to get there is to walk as the riptide is too strong for a dock).
To get back from Wizard Beach, you have two options; walk back the
way you came (about 45 minutes and, did I mention the mud?) or
another 45 minute walk down the beach and through the jungle to Red
Frog Beach. From there, you can get a boat back to Bastimentos town
for $4 per person. We arrived on Red Frog Beach as a band of
ragamuffins; sweaty, muddy, exhausted, and with stray dogs in tow. We
celebrated at the bar as all good explorers should.